Hymn 182 - Our tongues shall spread the Saviour’s fame
Breaking of Bread
Hymn 235 - We’ll praise Thee, glorious Lord
Ministry: Song of Solomon 2:1-4
Prayer
Children’s Meeting: Philip Burgess
Hymn 311 – Children, can you tell me why
Prayer
Proverbs 28:27. Let’s learn about generosity this week. This verse talks about giving to the poor, but generosity is more than just giving money away. God is the best example of generosity. John 3:16 tells us that He gave His Son to save the world, and we know how Jesus gave His life on the cross for us. Generosity can also be giving our time and sharing our things; not just donating money.
There are a few traits that make up generosity:
Love; or as the Bible sometimes calls it, “charity”. Zacchaeus was interested in gathering a lot of money for himself, until he met Jesus and got saved. After that, he gave away half of his money and belongings to the poor. Showing love is part of the Christian character, and part of love is being generous. 1 John 3:17. If other people need things, and we ignore them, how can we say that we love them? Love is part of generosity.
Forfeiting; which means giving something up. A big part of generosity is giving up something to help others. It might mean giving up our turn, or our seat on the bus, or something else, but it’s hardly generosity if we’re not giving something up. I’ve told the story before of two sisters who each had received a chocolate bar. One sister was selfish with her chocolate bar and wouldn’t share it, but the other was generous, and shared hers with the other children. It’s like the lady in the Gospels, giving her two mites. It wasn’t much, but it was all that she had, and Jesus praised her for it. It’s not how much we give, but how much we keep for ourselves that God is watching. Even when they were poor, Paul tells us that the saints in Macedonia gave to help others.
Sowing. Proverbs 11:24-25, 2 Corinthians 9:6. If you never plant seeds, you’ll never get a harvest. The book of Acts tells us, “It is more blessed [or, it’s better] to give than to receive.” We must keep this in mind, and think of ways to give. If we give to others, share our toys and equipment with them, and help them with our time, it’s like sowing seeds to reap a harvest of blessing. The Lord can give us joy in doing this. There was a girl who was given one cabbage seed. She planted it and grew a massive cabbage. She took that cabbage and brought it down to the local soup kitchen (a place that provides meals for those who can’t buy them). They made soup out of it, and fed over two hundred people! This girl decided to plant more food, so that she could give more away. She’s still doing it today and being a blessing to others.
Grace. 2 Corinthians 9:7-8. We must give cheerfully, and not grudgingly. God will give us grace to do this and help us to abound in good works. Acts 9:39. It’s like Dorcas, who died, but Peter came and raised back to life. She had been generous with her time to sew and make clothes for the poor. God helped her do so, and He can provide so that we can be generous, too. Let’s be thinking of ways to be generous to others!
Reading Meeting
James 3:6-18
A small spark can start a big fire. Here in verse six the tongue is compared to fire. It can do a lot of damage. Darby translates “iniquity” as “unrighteousness”. James seems to blame the tongue. It’s the person who makes it wag. He doesn’t seem to mention what’s in the heart, but I guess it is through the tongue that what is in the heart is shown.
The tongue is a world of unrighteousness. It defiles the whole body. The way one speaks is usually how you consider the whole person. Not only does the way we speak make an impression, but also people can be affected by it too. It sets on fire the course of nature. It stars with yourself, then those around you, and then it goes further. It is set on fire of hell. The very source of this kind of flame comes from the pit of the enemy. The root is the heart which is affected when we let the enemy in. We need to let the Lord lead us. Mr. Sole use to say, “It’s better to establish truth then combat evil”. We need to give the truth that gives strength and grace, and not just argue against the evil.
We can also use our tongue for blessing. What is being described here is not what we want our tongue to be like. Matthew tells us that, “out of of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh”. We also know that “as a man thinks so is he”. Our tongue can be like a serpent with poison fangs. People have tamed all kinds of animals, but man cannot tame the tongue; only God can. We can bless God with our tongue, but then we can also curse men. James is showing how the tongue is contradictory. We can use it for right or wrong. You don’t want to go to a fountain and not know what type of water you’re going to get. I think this shows us how we need to be thoughtful about our speech and conversation. Conversation has to do with our manner of life. Darby translates is as conduct.
Verse thirteen sounds a bit like Proverbs. Wisdom is the appropriate use of knowledge. There is an earthly wisdom and wisdom from above. We’ve been treasuring good and blessed things from above. If that is missing, what come from us? Verse seventeen describes the wisdom from above. The world lacks purity. Peace comes from God. It’s quite a summery at the end of this chapter.